Havana, November 20 (RHC)-- Ali Rodriguez, Venezuelan lawyer, politician, diplomat and Ambassador to Cuba, died in Havana on Monday.  Rodriguez had served as ambassador to the island since 2014.  He was 81 years old.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro expressed his condolences on his Twitter account, describing Rodriguez as a tireless fighter who was essential to the Revolution.  “His experience and honesty were a school for all of us,” Maduro said.

Early Tuesday morning, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel conveyed his condolences to the Venezuelan people and described Ali Rodriguez's passing as the loss of an exemplary revolutionary.  Diaz-Canel assured on Twitter that Rodríguez's work will remain in the memory of all the Cuban people.

Ali Rodriguez Araque was born in 1937 in Ejido, in Venezuela’s central state of Merida.  In 1961, he graduated as a lawyer at the Universidad Central de Venezuela.

He held different political offices, including Minister of Energy and Mines at the beginning of President Hugo Chavez’s first term in 1999.  He also served as secretary-general of OPEC and president of PDVSA (2002-2004) and Minister of Foreign Affairs (2003-2006).